Last Updated on August 23, 2024 by Sunny Staff
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| It’s easier than ever before to get your website up and running. However there are more moving parts than ever before which means you’ll need more time and more skill to keep your website running and your visitors safe. You can either step up to the challenge and embrace the learning curve, or keep your attention focused on mission-critical tasks while the experts – that’s us – deliver end to end WordPress website care. |
A website is all but part of the furniture for businesses across the globe. With so many different services and tools available, it has never been easier to get your business online. According to Forbes, 71% of businesses now have a website. But despite the ubiquity of these tools, building and maintaining a professional website still requires planning and that you keep a finger on the pulse of your site’s expenses. A website can be a great asset or a terrible drain on your budget.
Historical Costs of Maintaining a Website
Not too long ago, maintaining a website involved a few straightforward expenses. Domains were renewed annually (still the case), hosting was paid monthly or annually (still the case), and add-on software usually came with a one-off price tag (not anymore, unless you’re buying on marketplaces like Themeforest / CodeCanyon).
With the advancement of cloud technologies and SaaS (Software as a Service) models, many of the one-off costs have shifted to monthly or annual subscription models. This shift has introduced both benefits and complexities:
- Software providers get a steady and continuous stream of revenue. This allows for continuous development and support.
- Subscribers, likewise, receive updates and have continuous access to support
- But, this significantly increases the total cost to the website owner over time
According to Gartner, 80% of business software providers will switch to subscription-based models by the end of 2024. While annual costs are more convenient in terms of budget and paperwork and the standard two-month discount, they’re also easier to forget about, especially when you start relying on different vendors.
With that said, website maintenance costs (once the site is up and running) will vary from website to website, with the size and complexity of the website playing a big role.
What type of website do you have?
Different websites have different requirements, which means the maintenance costs between websites can vary. Features and functionality, the type of backend, SEO, security, and backups will all play a part in determining a website’s maintenance costs.
Here’s how different websites stack up in terms of maintenance requirements…
Personal websites
Content management
Whether it’s posting new blog articles or adding new pages with static content, these site updates can be frequent.
Security
Given the uncomplicated nature of these websites, security is usually pretty straightforward: keep everything up to date, use strong passwords, and install a security plugin.
Backups
Backups are your insurance against unforeseen events that could incur data loss.
Performance
Given the relatively small size of personal sites and blogs, WordPress’s built-in performance optimization should suffice. As sites grow, however, performance optimization techniques like caching and image optimization can keep the site fast and ensure a consistent user experience.
Small Business Websites
Content management
Small business websites require frequent content updates. Given that budgets are often limited, many business owners create their own content, or task a member of their team. For most small business websites, this means a post or press release a week along with some static content (page or product) updates.
Security
A small business website used as a brochure site won’t have the same security requirements as one that collects personal data or performs transactions, e.g. online booking platforms or membership sites. Depending on your location or industry, you might be subject to very specific security measures.
Backups
A website’s backup strategy depends on the type of information being stored by the website and how often the information changes. A good rule of thumb is to consider how much information you can realistically lose permanently. That should determine the type of backup being run and its frequency.
Performance
The performance requirements of the small business website will depend on the website’s function. A brochure site won’t need as much compute resources as a small business website running an embedded application (e.g. video streaming) or an eCommerce store with lots of visuals.
Corporate websites
Content management
Corporate websites require regular content updates. This can range from press releases and blog posts to changes to staff pages and service offerings.
Security
Corporate websites often contain sensitive information and are subject to industry standards and regulations, which necessitates an adequate security focus which can include regular security audits and external vulnerability scans, web firewalls, and premium security plugins.
Backups
Depending on the frequency of information change on the website, corporate websites may benefit from more frequent backups than personal websites. This can either be daily or multiple times a day. Backup strategies can be complemented by more advanced techniques such as automatic failover when downtime or disruption can incur serious financial losses.
Performance
When the user experience is critical, corporate websites require consistent and constant performance optimization to ensure rapid and reliable content delivery. This can include server-side caching, database optimization, and possibly a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
eCommerce Websites
Content management
Planning on rocking an eCommerce website? Chances are you’ll frequently be updating product listings, descriptions, and prices when you’re not adding new products.
Security
eCommerce websites typically require above-average security measures such as premium SSL certificates, regular security audits, external vulnerability scans, and so on. If you intend to store cardholder data on your website, you’ll have to pursue PCI compliance.
Backups
Your backup strategy will depend on the traffic coming through your site. If you sell items with a high price tag and only perform a few transactions a month, weekly backups could suffice. Most eCommerce websites will need daily backups or, where transaction volumes are high, real-time backups.
Performance
eCommerce sites can be very resource intensive, which necessitates that they run fully optimized and efficiently 24/7. Measures that can be applied include server and application-level caching, CDN, and image optimization.
So what does it cost?
When one-off payment models aren’t available, annual payments are the next best thing. It requires less bookkeeping, takes up less time than more frequent payments and, importantly, often comes with a discount.
| Sunny HQ Plan | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Websites | SPF 25 | $135 / month |
| Small Business Websites | SPF 50 | $210 / month |
| Corporate Websites | SPF 75 | $370 / month |
| eCommerce Websites | SPF 90 | $620 / month |
Domains
Cost: Mostly $9.99-$14.99 per year (incl. domain privacy)
Domains are classified as an annual expense because they have to be renewed every year. The exception is domains that have been registered for multiple years at a time, which only have to be renewed close to or on the expiration date.
The cost of your domain will largely depend on the top-level domain name, such as .com, .net, .org, .io, and so on. It should also not be assumed that registration and renewal costs will be the same. For example, these are the registration and renewal fees with one popular registrar:
| Registration | Renewal | |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $11.99 | $11.99 |
| .net | $12.99 | $12.99 |
| .org | $6.99 | $10.99 |
| .pro | $3.85 | $19.99 |
| .io | $37.99 | $40.99 |
Most domains nowadays include domain privacy protection, which hides your registration information from the internet. Where it is not included, you’ll have to make allowance for the extra cost (usually $1-$2 extra).
Many website owners shift the onus of domain registration and renewal to their hosting service providers, preferring to simply pay the annual fee rather than deal with the technical ins and outs. In cases like this, however, it’s worth remembering that hosting service providers will add a small markup.
Plugins & extensions
Cost: From free to a few hundred dollars per year
WordPress is free, as are the almost 60,000 plugins in the WordPress repository. However, some themes, plugins, and extensions are not free. Where these commercial items do not carry a one-off cost, they have licenses that typically have to be renewed on an annual basis. Examples include:
- Elementor Pro – From $59 to $399 per year
- WP Bakery – From $69 to $499 per year
- Wordfence – $119 per year
- Learndash LMS – $199 to $799 per year
- WooCommerce Subscriptions – $279 per year
Keeping plugin licenses valid is essential since it enables software updates. The flip side of that coin is where plugins can’t be updated and, subsequently, vulnerabilities patched, you’re left vulnerable to attacks.
But should you start with the free or premium version of a plugin? It depends on the functionality you need; if it’s available in the free version, and as long as you’ve read reviews and done your due diligence on the plugin developer, install the free version. Otherwise, buy a license for the professional version.
Hosting
From $5 per month to $599 per month
Hosting is slightly less straightforward than you’d expect. There are different types of hosting, each catering to a website’s resource requirement. Here’s a brief overview:
- Shared hosting: Shared hosting has been around for a really long time. The ‘shared’ refers to shared CPU, RAM, storage, and network usage between the different sites or ‘tenants’ on a single server.
- Cloud server: Also sometimes mistakenly referred to as VPS hosting. This refers to a virtual server created using some of the resources of a pool of physical servers. Cloud servers are typically available as part of a public cloud infrastructure. Private clouds are also available and provide a dedicated and private cloud environment, but are usually significantly more expensive than their public cloud counterparts. Cloud servers require a fair amount of technical expertise.
- Dedicated server: A dedicated server is a physical server dedicated to your WordPress website(s) and nothing else. Dedicated servers require a fair amount of technical expertise.
Regardless of the hosting infrastructure you choose, you’ll also have to choose between self-managed hosting and managed WordPress hosting.
Self-managed hosting
With self-managed hosting, you manage every aspect of your WordPress website yourself, including your hosting account. Self-managed hosting requires a fair amount of technical experience, especially if you’re running your own server. The one key benefit associated with self-managed hosting is that it’s typically more affordable than managed WordPress hosting.
But for its price affordability, you’ll have to take into account that it will take more time to manage your hosting account and your WordPress website.
Managed WordPress hosting
With managed WordPress hosting everything’s taken care of for a fixed monthly fee. This includes your hosting account as well as your WordPress site(s). It doesn’t require any technical skills or knowledge, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s only for those without any technical prowess; many Sunny HQ clients leverage our services to have more time to focus on their businesses.
As far as pricing goes, managed hosting has a higher dollar price tag, but does save you at the very least a few hours every month. Sunny HQ’s managed WordPress hosting ranges from $199 to $599 per month, with a significant discount when paying annually.
SSL certificate
From $0 to $799+ per year
Nowadays free SSL certificates come part and parcel with hosting accounts. While these free SSL certificates are generally suitable for blogs, personal websites, and starter small business websites, premium SSL certificates offer features that make them more suitable for websites that have to adhere to strict compliance requirements, eCommerce websites, government websites, and so on. Some of these features include:
Validation levels
The validation level can also be understood as the level of protection included with an SSL certificate. Here’s a quick overview:
Domain Validation (DV)
Arguably the most common type of SSL certificate. Domain validation certificates apply to the domain, and are easy to obtain – you just need control of the domain.
Organization Validation (OV)
OV SSL certificates come with a slightly more rigorous registration process. Here the organization will have to be verified.
Extended Validation (EV)
Extended Validation SSL certificates include the most extensive level of vetting and identity background checks, all with the aim of certifying that the website is legitimate.
Needless to say, premium SSL certificates include a fee – either every 12 months or 24 months, depending on the certificate and the certificate provider. Costs can range from $8 to $1,000.
Technical support
From $0 to $3,500 per month
As with managed hosting, both monthly and annual plans are often the norm, with the latter often being more affordable. WordPress website management is often full service, meaning that the service provider will manage all aspects of your WordPress website – from content changes to the SSL certificate – for a flat fee.
Services commonly included with WordPress website management include:
Content updates
One of the most time-consuming tasks associated with running a website is publishing and updating content on a website. This requires some technical skill and, regardless of your skill level, a fair amount of time.
Theme and plugin updates
Despite the ease with which themes and plugins can be updated, many website owners simply can’t find the time to run through the update process. Where a specific plugin version has a vulnerability, this can leave the website open to attacks.
Troubleshooting
Website errors occur when you least expect them, and sometimes for no apparent reason. Uptime is critical for many website owners who stand to lose money when their sites go down, which is why they hire WordPress experts to keep a watchful eye on their digital real estate.
SEO
From $0 to thousands of dollars
Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services are often included with WordPress website maintenance services. This can include on-page optimization for smaller sites, and helping you set up analytics to track the performance of your website. For most website owners, this is enough. However, websites in highly competitive industries will often require a tailored SEO strategy that could require lots of legwork. Where this is the case, it could be billed as an extra that can run into the thousands of dollars, depending on the size of your site and the competition in your industry.
Should You Maintain Your WordPress Website Yourself?
There are arguably more people choosing to maintain their WordPress websites themselves. Some don’t want to spend on professional website maintenance while others simply enjoy the learning curve. There are quite a few who’ll get to it as soon as their schedule allows. But should you? Or is it best left to the professionals?
Why you should maintain your WordPress website yourself
One of the biggest reasons some choose to maintain their own WordPress websites is the cost savings – if you’re doing it, you don’t have to pay someone else. Plus, you have complete control over your entire website, which means that you can run updates or make changes when it suits you, rather than waiting for a third party to implement them. Then there’s the learning curve – if you’re like us, you’ll revel in every scenario that puts your skill set to the test.
Why you shouldn’t maintain your own WordPress website
On the flip side of the coin, maintaining your own WordPress website takes up a fair amount of time if you’re doing everything correctly. And that’s if everything is working perfectly.
Badly written plugins and themes, plugin conflicts, and insufficient server resources are just a few of a seemingly endless list of things that can go wrong. In many cases the error messages are vague. This is where hours can turn into days. With all that in mind, maintaining your own WordPress website requires technical skill.
You’re also liable for every aspect of your site, most notably its security. This means you’ll need a firm grasp on the concept of website security, and also stay up to date on the newest WordPress threats and attacks.
Also keep in mind that maintaining the look and feel of your website will take some relevant experience – not only with design, but HTML and CSS as well.
Conclusion
Maintaining a WordPress website can be rewarding if you have the time, technical skills, and inclination to take the reins. However, it requires a consistent commitment to updates, security, and performance optimization to ensure your site remains secure, efficient, and effective.
Many business owners would, however, prefer to spend their time and focus on business-critical tasks. The costs associated with WordPress website maintenance deliver the headspace needed to remain competitive in today’s busy marketplace.
